Plant viruses rely on insect vectors for transmission among plant hosts, but many of the specifics of virus-vector interactions are not fully understood. Thrips tabaci, which transmits Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) in a persistent and propagative manner, varies greatly in its ability to transmit different isolates of TSWV. Similarly, TSWV isolates are transmitted at different efficiencies by different populations of T. tabaci. This study characterizes differences in virus titers in the vector among TSWV isolate-T. tabaci isoline pairings in relation to differences in transmission rates, and demonstrates that although transmission rates were higher for sympatric than allopatric TSWV isolate-T. tabaci isoline pairings, virus titers in the thrips vector were significantly lower in the sympatric pairings. Results further demonstrate that TSWV titers in the vector were unrelated to virus titers in the leaf tissue from which they acquired the virus and provide evidence for the importance of specific vector-virus interactions and local adaptation in determining transmission efficiency of TSWV by T. tabaci.